I doubted this would be a good debate, so its here.
There is a free mag called Connection magazine, I think its sponsored by Donald Wildmon’s clan. Its Chrsitian and you could find it in grocery and discount stores.
Well.
Recently there was some article on islam where someone stated Islam was a violent religion.
SO local Muslims protested and the paper has been yanked.
Can’t find it, though I suppose I could if I frequented different stores.
My fellow church goers claim this is suppressing free speech!
Its not politically correct to claim that Islam is a violent religion evne though free speech protects this, especially in a free mag, but a small group can bully stores into not putting it there at the doroways.
Freedom of speech only applies to the goverment, so unless it was men dressed in black suits wearing sunglasses yanking the mag then your fellow church goers are wrong.
I guess they are complaining about the stores “caving” to pressure, such as if hypothetically The Realist would be taken out of stores if say, chrsitians complained about it. And they would, if they read it.
I once wrote Krassner and asked if I was his only chrsitian fan.
he wrote “depends what you mean by christian, I guess”.
Considering that Donald Wildmon principle’s hobby has been organizing boycotts of magazines, tv shows, movies, comic strips, and products that don’t cater to his personal brand of chicken-waving, I find his cries of “freedom of speech!” to be just a bit less than compelling. Amusing, but not really surprising.
Btw, wasn’t he instrumental in getting Playboy taken off the shelves of 7-11 back in the 80’s?
I have not found any information on this “Connection” magazine, but if it is connected to Wildmon and publishing lies about Islam, you’ll have to pardon me while I giggle at the ironic justice.
You may not like it but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the “suppression of free speech.” Saying that is showing a fundamental ignorance of the concept of free speech. Why shouldn’t a corporation be free to sell or not sell whatever the hell they choose?
I get bothered by people who don’t realize that freedom applies to everyone, not just them. They have a right to publish and distribute their magazine and to say pretty much anything they want in it (with a few exceptions). However, the store has a right to not carry this magazine if they don’t want to.
People who want only thier freedoms make me wanna…
It bothers me when people claim that. The First Amendment only applies to the government. Freedom of speech is something that a lot of organizations (like universities) support, even if they’re not constitutionally obligated to. The OP never claimed it was illegal, just that it was suppression of free speech. I agree with that, but I have to admit that grocery stores are not what I would consider important free-speech fora.
You have the right to say whatever you want to say. That’s free speech. However, if Muslims threaten to boycott an establishment that serves as a forum for some particular brand of speech, that is their right - and the establishment can make its own decision about whether it wishes to carry such speech or not.
People assume that free speech guarantees some right to be heard. It doesn’t. There is no right to force a business to provide a forum for your speech, and if they choose not to do so, tough toenails.
Christian groups threaten businesses with boycotts all the time for carrying things they don’t like. Businesses sometimes cave into this pressure, and sometimes don’t. But it’s the business’s decision and “free speech” has nothing to do with the matter at hand whatsoever.
And by the way, it sounds like an awfully stupid magazine to me . . .